Food Rationing During the Second World War
This post is basically my lists and amounts, both of rationed goods, items available via the points system and a few other things. I hope you find it interesting and it will help you to see the background work that I have been doing to try and understand the rationing system as it was during the Second World War here in the UK and adapt it where necessary to my Year of Modern Rationing in 2021.
It looks a bit bitty and I apologise for that but copy and pasting tables and other information makes for different type faces and different sizes.
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Wartime Rations |
My Modern Rations |
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Weekly Ration |
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4oz Ham or Bacon |
4oz Meat Substitute |
ie. Veggie mince, burger OR legumes |
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4oz Margarine |
4oz Dairy Free Spread |
Flora or Pure etc |
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2oz Butter |
2oz Oil |
Any |
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2oz Lard |
2oz Vegan Alternative |
ie. Trex or Suet |
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3 pints of Milk |
1 Carton Dairy Free Milk |
Almond, Oat or Soya |
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3oz Cheese |
3oz Dairy Free Cheese |
Violife/Applewood etc |
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8oz Sugar |
8oz Sugar |
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2oz Tea |
2oz Nescafe Coffee |
I cannot drink tea. |
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1 egg |
2oz Flaxseeds |
Egg replacer |
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1 Sausage |
1 Vegan Sausage |
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2oz Fish |
1 Vegan Sausage |
Or perhaps vegan Fish Alternative |
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3oz Sweets |
3oz Sweets |
Any type |
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Meat to the Value of 1s 2d |
Extras to the Value of £2.96 |
1942 = modern day equivalent |
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Monthly Ration |
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1 Bottle Camp Coffee |
4oz Nescafe Coffee |
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1 Pkt Dried Milk |
1 Extra Carton Dairy Free Milk |
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1 Pkt Dried Eggs |
I Pkt Vegan Egg Mix |
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½ lb Onions |
½ lb Onions |
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Bi-Monthly Rations |
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1 Tub Cocoa |
1 Tub Cocoa |
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1lb Jam or Marmalade |
1lb Jam or Marmalade |
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My Off-Rations Shopping List
Potatoes
Carrots
Celery
Leeks
Cabbage/Greens
Additional Seasonal Vegetables including Onions and Fruit
To reflect shortages my onions and fruit must be purchased from my £2.96 weekly allowance.
Brown Bread
Yeast
Flour
One modern 'Sanity Saver' per week.
This is to be one item, at first to be taken from my 'pre-ration' store-cupboard of supplies and then later in the year when stores run out may be bought from any shop.
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So these are my basic rations for the year. During the war years there was one more thing to get your head around ... the Points System. I'll be back tomorrow with my plans for this.
Sue xx
We found the points system the hardest, and that was just for us three! Some families were huge, must have taken a lot of working out (and queuing)!
ReplyDeleteThat's why I have decided that my points will be fixed at 20 per month, that's the average as it veered from 16 - 24 during the war years (as you well know) and my foods will all keep the same points value throughout the Challenge rather than going up and down like yoyo's. It's the only way I can keep my sanity and get used to it over the 12 'points' shopping trips of the year.
DeleteVegetarians/vegans/non meat eaters were allowed an extra 3ozs of cheese, and 2 eggs per week, also extra milk. Hence why so many families took a vegetarian ration book and claimed to be vegetarian! Perhaps you've been looking at an ordinary rations list - vegetarians had a completely different allowance.
ReplyDeleteHappy to help if you get stuck - I majored in this, quite a long time ago I admit, but I've still got all my work from then. Working for a Wartime Life Museum now so it all still comes in handy! Looking forwards to seeing how your year goes.
Judith
Thanks Judith, I've been looking at lots of ration lists, and I learnt all about the vegetarian/ordinary rationing difference last time I did this Challenge, but it's no good me going down the vegetarian route when I'm a vegan. And this time I have kept the cheese ration at 3oz and will use vegan cheese.
DeleteYes, lots of families claimed to have one or two veggies in the family as it then meant they could claim the extra cheese, which was in fact throughout most of the war years an extra 5oz to bring the total up to 8oz per person.
I'd be laughing if I was vegetarian as I have laying hens and would have been able to have an unlimited amount of eggs in exchange for handing in my egg coupon and instead receiving a corn allowance for the birds :-)
Complicated! but looks like you've got it sussed
ReplyDeleteHaha ... I got there in the end :-)
DeleteBlimey it takes a bit to get your head around all this. Well done Sue.
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating though, I've quite enjoyed figuring it out 😃
DeleteAm a long time reader, Sue, and this is my first comment. I used to have a booklet published by the Vegan Society in the 70s, or 80s, about the experiences of vegans during the Second World War. Sadly I gave it away and can't remember the title. Unbelievably, unlike vegetarians, vegans did not receive extra rations. They may have received the extra nuts that vegetarians were allowed, but nothing to replace the cheese and eggs. They grew peas for drying for winter use and made their own plant milks using soya flour, I think. I thought you might be interested to know. Anyway,I look forward to reading about your modern take on World War Two rationing.
ReplyDeleteSue in Herts
Thank goodness I decided to do it with a modern twist then, as much as I like peas and some beans I wouldn't fancy living off them full time. 😀🤣
DeleteGosh, that's a lot of math to do.....so that would be me, falling at the first fence. :D
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly like for like with a bit of a twist, I got there in the end. Maths is not my strong point either ... as you will no doubt find out over the course of this year 🤣🤣
DeleteRationing and the accompanying complications, which went on for years, serve to remind us just how easy it is these days to go into a supermarket and load up a trolley.
ReplyDeleteI know during the war people with gardens grew their own vegetables, but you don't have that opportunity at the flat and to my mind your available foods look very 'light' in the fruit & veg department, or have I missed something? (which is most likely because my brain is just not functioning properly at present)
It's not too bad. I had missed cabbage/greens off my list of non-rationed foods (added now) and to keep it healthy I am using my £2.96 'meat' allowance for veg, fruits and healthy things. It should work out fine. And hopefully I can make a bit of growing space at my new flat once the house purchase goes through 😃
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